It is without argument that people want to connect and stay connected with the people they know, otherwise referred to as their social network. Worldwide social networking accounts are on the rise. One study estimates that the current number of social networking accounts will rise from the current value of 2.2 billion to almost 3.7 billion by the year 2014. This includes all of the major social networking accounts.
Even businesses are taking advantage of the social network trend as well. Social networking sites are a way for small businesses to advertise for free, or for a very low cost. Companies utilize social networking to gain credibility, foster employee relationships, build a forum for communication with customers, and even boost sales.
Location based services (LBS) utilize GPS signals to track the location of users of mobile devices. LBS is included in advanced mobile devices often referred to as smartphones. The growth of smartphones is widespread, arguably attributed to the introduction of the iPhone® by Apple in 2007. The smartphone market has entered a significant growth spurt. With the use of smartphones, users have a device at their disposal that is capable of tracking themselves, as well as people in their social network. Users are able to obtain the latest information from their favorite social networking sites from almost any location, as well as input new data into their site via any of the known formats (e.g., video, pictures, and text).
However, there is still room for new technologies which provide alerting and other functions to the user in an intuitive way. Such notification systems or related alerting features may provide the user with real time updates regarding when there is an acquaintance nearby or there is an opportunity within reach to meet someone or to engage in an otherwise opportune experience within the user's domain area.